Just one day after the Wall Street Journal says Republicans “pushed Mr. Obama to freeze federal spending,” Congressman Boehner voted against a massive, earmark-loaded “omnibus” spending bill.
According to the Associated Press, the $447 billion “omnibus” included more than 5,000 “earmarks” and would increase spending by an average of 12 percent – this on top of several other increases already added this year. From the report:
“The 1,088-page, $1.1 trillion measure would provide $447 billion in operating budgets for 10 Cabinet departments, awarding increases averaging almost 10 percent. On top of that comes more than $600 billion in payments for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
“The 221-202 vote to approve the House-Senate compromise bill sends it to the Senate, which may pass it this weekend and ship it on to President Barack Obama. Not a single Republican voted for the bill.
“The generosity comes on top of an infusion of cash to domestic agencies in February’s economic stimulus bill and a $410 billion measure in March that also bestowed budget increases well above inflation.
“‘When are we going to say, ‘Enough is enough?’’ said House GOP Leader John Boehner of Ohio. ‘Let’s stop the madness.’”
Boehner also called on the president to live up to his campaign promise to go “line-by-line” through the bill and root out wasteful spending. Politico reports:
“House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) challenged President Barack Obama on Thursday to keep his campaign promise and go ‘line-by-line’ through the 2,500-page omnibus spending bill and eliminate wasteful spending. …
“‘Listen, if the president wants to get serious and keep his campaign promise, what he ought to do is go through these 2,500 pages, one at a time and line-by-line, like he said he would,’ Boehner said in his weekly meeting with reporters. ‘And we can start today.’”
READ MORE:
- Boehner: Employers Are “Frozen,” Uncertain Over Democrats’ Agenda (12/9/09)
- Ohio “Stimulus” Dollars Spent on “Banquet Centers, High-End Hotels and Conference Centers” (12/7/09)
- Boehner on FOX: Stopping the Obama-Pelosi Agenda First Step to Creating New Jobs (12/4/09)
- Boehner: Democrats’ Jobs-Killing Agenda Causing Uncertainty for Small Businesses (12/3/09)
- Video: Boehner Says Adding to the Deficit Won’t Help Small Businesses Create New Jobs (12/3/09)
